Fishing rod with pre-inserted fishing line guide members and method of manufacturing the same

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a fishing rod with preinserted fishing line guide members. A prepreg formed of a high-strength fiber impregnated or mixed with resin is wound to form the rod pipe. A plurality of wide fishing line guide members each having a flat-shaped section are fixed integrally to the inner peripheral surface of the rod pipe, the inner peripheral side portions of the wide fishing line guide members are respectively projected inwardly from the rod pipe inner peripheral surface, and the outer portions of the rod pipe existing in the wide fishing line guide fixed portions are respectively bulged outwardly and widely. The fishing line guide members are strongly fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the rod pipe without lowering the strength of the rod pipe.

This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/557,819, filedNov. 14, 1995, now abandoned which was divisional of Ser. No.08/297,542, filed Aug. 31, 1994, now pending.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a fishing rod with pre-inserted fishingline guide members and a method of manufacturing such a fishing rod.

From the viewpoint of the improvement in the sliding condition of afishing line, prevention of the frictional damage of the inner surfaceof a rod pipe and the like, there is disclosed in Japanese Patent KokaiPublication No. Sho. 56-127032 a fishing rod in which a plurality offishing line guide members are previously pressure-inserted into orbonded to the inner surface of a rod pipe before it is finally formed asa main component of the fishing rod and, after the rod pipe is formed,they are fixed to the inner surface of the rod pipe. Also, there isdisclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. Hei. 4-341133 afishing rod in which a plurality of fishing line guide annular memberseach formed of a single fiber are formed integrally with the innerperipheral surface of a rod pipe.

However, in the fishing rod disclosed in the former publication in whichthe fishing line guide members are fixed after the rod pipe is formed,the fishing line guide members can be taken off or shifted in positionwhen the fishing rod is bent or deformed during fishing.

Also, in the fishing rod disclosed in the latter publication, thefishing line guide annular members each has a circular section shape andthus has the height, and the inner peripheral surfaces of the fishingline guide annular members are restricted by the outer peripheralsurface of a mandrel when the rod pipe is formed and, therefore, if afiber reinforced prepreg is wound round the mandrel, then the fiberreinforced prepreg is projected outwardly in the portions where thefishing line guide annular members are provided. As a result of this, ifthe rod pipe is heated and baked, then the reinforcing fiber is causedto meander to thereby lower the strength of the rod pipe.

Further, in case where the rod pipe is formed by means of thecombination of the prepreg and mandrel, the inner surface of the rodpipe thus formed is made flush with the inner surface of the fishingline guide annular member, which hinders the fishing line guide annularmember from projecting inwardly from the rod pipe inner surface. Also,in the step in which the rod pipe is formed by heating, the resin flowsout from the prepreg to the surface of the mandrel so that the fishingline guide annular member is buried under the resin. Therefore, thefishing line guide annular member is not allowed to expose itselfinwardly of the rod pipe inner surface.

Also, even when the inner surface of the fishing line guide annularmember is exposed in part, mostly, the resin is attached to theperipheral portions of the exposed surface in the form of burrs. Thus,in this state, if a fishing line is guided, then the fishing line may bedamaged by the burr-like resin, which makes it difficult for the guideannular member to perform its fishing line guide function in a stablemanner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention was made in order to eliminate the drawbacks foundin the above-mentioned conventional fishing rods of a type that afishing guide annular member is previously inserted into a rod pipe tobe formed.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide afishing rod of the above type in which a plurality of fishing line guidemembers can be fixed strongly to the inner peripheral surface of a rodpipe.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fishing rod ofthe above-type in which the strength of rod pipe is ensured.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method ofmanufacturing a fishing rod with a pre-inserted fishing line guidemember in which the fishing line guide member is exposed stably from thesurface of a rod pipe and thus is able to guide a fishing line smoothlyand also to reduce the insertion resistance of the fishing line.

In order to attain the above-noted and other objects, the presentinvention provides a fishing rod with pre-inserted fishing line guidemembers, in which a plurality of wide fishing line guide members eachhaving a flat-shaped section are fixed integrally to the innerperipheral surface of an rod pipe formed by winding a prepreg made of ahigh-strength fiber impregnated or mixed with resin, the innerperipheral side portions of the fishing line guide members are projectedinwardly from the rod pipe inner peripheral surface, and the outerportions of the rod pipe for fixing the wide fishing guide members arerespectively bulged out outwardly and widely.

Since each of the fishing line guide members is arranged such that theinner peripheral side thereof is projected inwardly and the respectivefishing line guide members are fixed integrally to the inner peripheralsurface of the rod pipe, the fishing line guide members can be fixedstrongly and thus the resistance of the fishing line can be reduced.Also, because each of the fishing line guide members is arranged suchthat it is wide and has a flat-shaped section, the portions of the rodpipe where the fishing line guide members are fixed are not projectedsuddenly but are bulged out widely and, when baking, there is eliminatedthe possibility that the fiber is caused to meander, which prevents therod pipe from being lowered in strength.

The present invention further provides a method of manufacturing afishing rod with a pre-inserted fishing line guide member in which afishing line can be inserted through a rod pipe formed of a reinforcingfiber with resin as a matrix. The method comprises the steps of:mounting a fishing line guide member on a mandrel; interposing a resinentrance prevent member between the front and rear portions of thefishing line guide member and the mandrel; winding a fiber reinforcedprepreg round the fishing line guide member, pressurizing and heatingthese members to thereby form a rod pipe; removing the mandrel from thethus formed rod pipe; and further removing the resin inflow preventmember therefrom.

According to the above-noted method of the invention, since the resinentrance prevent member is interposed between the front and rearportions of the fishing line guide member and the mandrel and after thenthe prepreg is wound, the fishing line guide member is prevented frombeing buried under the resin. Also, since the resin entrance preventmember is removed after the rod pipe is baked, there are generatedspaces in the front and rear portions of the fishing line guide memberand thus the fishing line guide member can be exposed stably from theinner surface of the baked rod pipe. Further, the resin entrance preventmember is turned into powder or the like when baked, the powder is inpart removed spontaneously when the mandrel is removed, and theremaining powder is gradually removed while the fishing rod is in use.In this case as well, such way of removal of the resin entrance preventmember falls within the scope of the patent claims.

The present invention further provides a method of manufacturing afishing rod with a pre-inserted fishing line guide member in which afishing line can be inserted through a rod pipe formed of a reinforcingfiber with resin as a matrix. The method comprises the steps of:mounting a fishing line guide member on a mandrel through a receivemember layer formed of a soft elastic member or a clay-like member;winding a fiber reinforced prepreg round the mandrel and the like fromabove the fishing line guide member; and pressurizing and heating thesemembers from above the wound prepreg layer to thereby form a rod pipe.

According to the method of the invention, the fishing line guide memberis mounted not directly on the mandrel but through the receive memberlayer formed of a soft elastic member or a clay-like member and thus,after being mounted, the transverse section of the fishing line guidemember is in part buried under the receive member layer. For thisreason, even if the resin flows when the fiber reinforced prepreg iswound thereon and the whole members are heated, the other portions ofthe fishing line guide member than the buried portion thereof are onlyunited with the fiber reinforced prepreg. Thus, if the mandrel andreceive member layer are removed after the rod pipe is formed, then onlythe portions of the fishing line guide member buried under the receivemember layer are projected stably inwardly of the rod pipe. Also,because the fishing line guide member is mounted through the softreceive member layer, the prepreg is difficult to project outwardly inthe neighborhood of the fishing line guide member, which can prevent thefiber from meandering and thus can prevent the lowered strength of therod pipe.

The present invention further provides a method of manufacturing afishing rod with a pre-inserted fishing line guide member in which afishing line can be inserted through a rod pipe formed of a reinforcingfiber with resin as a matrix. The method comprises the steps of:mounting a fishing line guide member on the outer surface of a tubeformed of a soft elastic member; winding a fiber reinforced prepreground the tube from above the fishing line guide member; and placing anouter shell on the tube from above the wound prepreg layer and applyinga pressure into the tube.

According to the method of the invention, since the fishing line guidemembers are mounted on the outside of the tube formed of a soft elasticmember and also the outside of the wound prepreg layer is covered withthe outer shell, if a pressure is applied into the tube, then thefishing line guide member is heated and formed in such a manner that itis pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the wound prepreglayer. However, because the outer peripheral surface of the woundprepreg layer extends along the inner surface of the outer shell andthus the diameter thereof cannot be extended outwardly, and also becausethe pressure is applied uniformly not only to the fishing line guidemember but also to the whole tube, the fishing line guide member pressedagainst the prepreg layer inner peripheral surface is not wholly butonly in part buried under the wound prepreg layer. For this reason,after they are formed integrally, if the tube is removed therefrom, thenthe fishing line guide member is stably projected inwardly of the rodpipe. Also, due to the fact that the outer shell is applied and the softtube is inserted, the prepreg is difficult to be projected outwardly inthe neighborhood of the fishing line guide member, which eliminates thepossibility that the fiber can meander to thereby lower the strength ofthe rod pipe.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section view of the main portions of a fishingrod with pre-inserted fishing line guide members according to a firstembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section view of the main portions of a fishingrod with pre-inserted fishing line guide members according to a secondembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a first method of manufacturing afishing rod according to the present invention.

FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are explanatory views of a second method ofmanufacturing a fishing rod according to the invention.

FIGS. 5(a), 5(b) and 5(c) are explanatory views of a third method ofmanufacturing a fishing rod according to the invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a fourth method of manufacturing afishing rod according to the invention.

FIG. 7 is a partially enlarged view for the fourth method described withreference to FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a partially longitudinal section view of a fifth method ofmanufacturing a fishing rod according to the invention.

FIG. 9 is a partially longitudinal section view of a sixth method ofmanufacturing a fishing rod according to the invention.

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal section view of the main portions of a fishingrod with pre-inserted fishing line guide members according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 11 shows a longitudinal section view of a fishing rod havingpre-inserted fishing line guide members according to one embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 12 shows a longitudinal section view of a fishing rod havingpre-inserted fishing line guide members according to another embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 13 shows a partial longitudinal section view of a fishing rodhaving a pre-inserted fishing line guide member formed continuous in aspiral manner.

FIG. 14 shows a partial longitudinal section view of a fishing rodhaving an alternate design of a pre-inserted fishing line guide memberformed continuous in a spiral manner.

FIG. 15 illustrates a method of forming a fishing rod having fishingline guide members according to FIGS. 11 and 12.

FIG. 16 illustrates a method of forming a fishing rod having a fishlineline guide member according to FIGS. 13 and 14.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Now, description will be given below in more detail of the invention byway of the embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

In FIG. 1, there is shown a fishing rod with preinserted fishing lineguide members according to a first embodiment of the invention. A rodpipe 10 is formed by winding a fiber reinforced prepreg and thereafterbaking the thus wound fiber reinforced prepreg. The term "prepreg" isused in a wide sense and thus includes thermoplastic resin. The prepregis formed, for instance, by impregnating a highly strong fiber such ascarbon and the like with epoxy resin and the like or by mixing thehigh-strength fiber with thermoplastic resin such as polyamide and thelike. A plurality of annular fishing line guide members respectivelyformed of ceramics or the like are fixed integrally to the innerperipheral surface of the rod pipe 10.

Each of the fishing line guide members 12 is designed such that thewidth dimension B thereof is greater than the thickness dimensionthereof and also it has a wide and relatively flattened section. Thewidth dimension B may be of several mm or greater. The outer peripheralportion of the fishing line guide member 12 is embedded integrally intothe inner peripheral surface 10S of the rod pipe 10. However, in thepresent embodiment, a buffer layer 14 is interposed between the innerperipheral surface 10S of the rod pipe 10 and each of the fishing lineguide members 12. That is, the outer peripheral side of the fishing lineguide member 12 is embedded into the rod pipe inner peripheral surface10S with the buffer layer 14 interposed between them, while the side ofthe inner peripheral surface 12S of the fishing line guide member 12 isprojected inwardly from the inner peripheral surface 10S of the rod pipe10.

Since the fishing line guide 12 is fixed embeddedly and integrally tothe inner peripheral surface 10S of the rod pipe 10 when heated andbaked in the above-mentioned manner, the fixing portion 10B of the rodpipe 10 where the fishing line guide member 12 is fixed is bulged orexpanded outwardly. However, because the fishing line guide member 12has a wide and relatively flattened section, the fixing or bulgedportion 10B of the rod pipe 10 is bulged out widely and smoothly withrespect to the remaining flat portion of the rod pipe 10, that is, themain body portion 10A of the rod pipe 10.

As a result of this, the fiber of the bulged portion 10B is not causedto meander so much to thereby be able to maintain the strength of therod pipe 10 and also the inner peripheral surface 12S of the fishingline guide member 12 having a wide and flat-shaped section is projectedinwardly, so that there can be supplied a fishing rod with pre-insertedfishing line guide members, which has a high strength and allows thefishing line to be guided smoothly. Preferably, the radial thickness ofthe bulged portion 10B may be slightly greater than that of the mainbody portion 10A in order to completely prevent the lowered strength ofthe fishing rod. Also, since the inner peripheral surface 12S of thefishing line guide member 12 is wide and flat-shaped, the fishing linecan be guided smoothly without being damaged when compared with afishing line guide member which is arranged such that the innerperipheral surface thereof has a small circular section.

The fishing line guide member 12 may be formed of, besides theabove-mentioned ceramics, metal, a fiber reinforced material consistingmainly of resin, a fiber reinforced material consisting mainly of metal,and the like. Also, the buffer layer 14 can be formed of (soft) rubber,a fiber reinforced prepreg, a synthetic resin, a resin tape (a resinsheet will be all right as well), and the like, provided that theelastic constant thereof is lower than that of the rod pipe 10. Theexistence of the buffer layer 14 allows the bulged portion 10B to bebulged out further smoothly as well as lightens the influence of thebent or deformed fishing rod on the fishing line guide member 12.

Next, description will be given below of a method of manufacturing afishing rod with pre-inserted fishing line guide members shown inFIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 3, there is disposed on a mandrel 20 a receivemember layer 22 which is formed of an elastic member such as a siliconetube or the like or a clay-like member, and then there are inserted onthe outside of the receive member layer 22 a plurality of annularfishing line guide members 12 each having such an inside diameter as cantighten the receive member layer 22 to a certain degree.

After then, a resin tape for the buffer layer 14 or the like is woundround in a manner to cover each of the fishing line guide members 12, afiber reinforced prepreg is wound round these members, and then theouter peripheral portion of the assembly is fastened by a fastening tapeor the like. Next, the assembly with fastening tape is heated and bakedto thereby form the respective annular fishing line guide members 12 andthe rod pipe 10 into one united body.

After the united body is cooled, the fastening tape and mandrel 20 areremoved from the united body and finally the receive member layer 22 isremoved therefrom.

As described above, since the receive member layer 22 exists when theunited body is formed, the portions of the annular fishing line guidemembers 12 which have been embedded in the receive member layer 22, thatis, the inner peripheral portions of the annular fishing line guidemembers 12 are respectively projected with respect to the rod pipe innerperipheral surface 10S. Also, because the fixed portions of therespective fishing line guide members 12 are not pressed from outsidewith an unreasonable force, the portions of the rod pipe correspondingto them are smoothly bulged outwardly, with the result the reinforcingfiber does not meander so much and thus the strength of the rod pipe canbe maintained.

In FIG. 2, there is shown a second embodiment of a fishing rod withpre-inserted fishing line guide members according to the invention. InFIG. 2, there is shown a rod pipe including a gently tapered rod pipe10C and a more steeply tapered rod pipe 10D which are connected to eachother. In the connecting portion of the two rod pipes 10C and 10D, awide and flat-shaped fishing line guide member 12' having a dimension Bis fixed to the rod pipe inner peripheral surface 10S through a bufferlayer 14'. The inner peripheral surface 12S' of the fishing line guidemember 12' is projected further than the extended surfaces of the innerperipheral surfaces of both rod pipes 10C and 10D, which prevents afishing line 16 in a tightly stretched condition from contacting the rodpipe inner peripheral surface 10S including the connected portionsthereof, thereby being able to reduce the possibility that the rod innersurface can be damaged and worn. Also, the materials of the fishing lineguide members 12' and buffer layer 14' as well as the method ofmanufacturing the present fishing rod are similar to the firstembodiment shown in FIG. 1.

As can be clearly understood from the foregoing description, accordingto the invention, since the fishing line guide members are fixedintegrally to the rod pipe when the rod pipe is baked, the fixing forcebetween them is strong, because the respective inner peripheral portionsof the fishing line guide members are projected from the rod pipe innerperipheral surface, the fishing line can be guided accurately, and sinceeach of the fishing line guide members is arranged so as to have a wideand flat-shaped section, the rod pipe outer side portions respectivelyexisting in the fixed portions between the rod pipe and guide membersare bulged out smoothly and widely and thus are not projected suddenlyor steeply, thereby being able to prevent the rod pipe from beinglowered in strength.

Now, description will be given below in more detail of another method ofmanufacturing a fishing rod with a pre-inserted fishing line guidemember according to the invention.

FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) show a second method of manufacturing a fishing rodwith a pre-inserted fishing line guide member according to theinvention. In FIG. 4(a), there is shown a mandrel 20 which includes anouter surface 20S covered with a soft rubber tube 22. Also, a pluralityof ring-shaped fishing line guide members 12' are mounted at suitableintervals in the longitudinal direction on the outer surface of therubber tube 22. The fishing line guide members 12' may be mounted afterthe rubber tube 22 is mounted on the mandrel 20, or, alternatively, thefishing line guide members 12' may be previously mounted on the rubbertube 22 and, after then, the rubber tube 22 with the guide membersmounted thereon may be put on the mandrel 20.

The fishing line guide member 12' may be formed of a single fiber suchas boron or ceramics, or may be formed of a ring member made of any ofother materials having a good sliding property, such as a ceramics ringand the like. Also, the fishing line guide members 12' may not bediscrete ring members but may be one or two or more spirally-shapedguide member(s). Further, a net having wide mesh of the order of severalmm may be wound round the rubber tube 22 so that a plurality of fishingline guide members 12' are formed by the net. In this case, the net maybe formed of any of ceramics, metal, water repellent resin material andthe like.

Instead of the rubber tube 22, a rubber tape may be wound round themandrel 20 to cover the outer surface 20S thereof. Also, in place of thesoft elastic material such as soft rubber, a clay-like material may beused to cover the outer surface 20S of the mandrel 20 and after then thefishing line guide member 12' may be mounted on the clay-like material.In any case, it is necessary that part (preferably, a half or so) of thetransverse section of the fishing line guide member 12' is buried underthe rubber tube 22 or the like. As the soft elastic material, siliconeand the like can be used.

After the transverse section of the fishing line guide member 12' is inpart buried under the tube 22 in this manner, a sheet, which ispreferably formed of the same resin material as the material of thefollowing prepreg, is wound round them to thereby form a resin materialsheet layer 46 as shown in FIG. 4(b). After then, a prepreg formed of areinforcing fiber impregnated or mixed with thermosetting resin orthermoplastic resin is wound round the resin material sheet layer 46 arequired number of times to thereby form a wound prepreg layer 48 (FIG.4(b)).

The layer 48 is not always formed of one kind of prepreg but, forexample, it may be formed in a three-layer structure in which inner andouter layers are respectively formed of a prepreg with fibers arrangedtogether mainly in the circumferential direction thereof and a middlelayer is formed of a prepreg with fibers arranged together mainly in thelongitudinal direction thereof. Also, in FIG. 4(b), for the purpose ofeasy understanding, the resin material sheet layer 46 and wound prepreglayer 48 are drawn as if they were similar in thickness to each other.However, in fact, the resin material sheet layer 46 is considerablythinner than the wound prepreg layer 48.

When the resin material sheet layer 46 is present, then the fishing lineguide member 12' and wound prepreg layer 48 can be integrally formedwith ease. However, according to the invention, provision of the layer46 is not essential.

After the wound prepreg layer 48 is formed in this manner, the woundprepreg layer 18 is heated, while it is pressurized by a fastening tapeor an outer shell such as a metal mold or the like, to thereby unite thefishing line guide member 12' with the wound prepreg layer 48, theunited body is cooled, the mandrel 20 is removed from the united body,and the rubber tube 22 is also removed therefrom, thereby forming a rodpipe. In the thus formed rod pipe, the fishing line guide member 12' isfixed to the inner surface of the rod pipe in such a manner that it isprojected inwardly by an amount corresponding to the portion thereofburied under the rubber tube 22 as shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b). Also,because the soft rubber tube 22 or the like is interposed between themandrel 20 and fishing line guide member 12', it is possible to preventthe prepreg layer 48 from being bulged outwardly if required.

According to the kind of the material of the receive material layer 22,after the rod pipe is formed by heating, the quality of the receivematerial layer 22 can vary so that the receive material layer 22 cannotbe used any longer. However, this has no effect on the structure of theinvention.

Next, description will be given below of yet another method ofmanufacturing a fishing rod with a pre-inserted fishing line guidemember according to the invention with reference to FIGS. 5(a), 5(b) and5(c). In the method shown in these drawings, a mandrel 20 is used but,however, the mandrel 20 is not essential. A plurality of fishing lineguide members 12' are mounted at desired intervals on the outer surfaceof a rubber tube 22 formed of rubber or soft elastic material andincluding a bottom portion 22B, the rubber tube 22 with the fishing lineguide members 12' mounted thereon is put on the mandrel 20, part(preferably, a half or so) of the transverse section of each of thefishing line guide members 12' is buried under the rubber tube 22 (FIG.5(a)).

Similarly to the method described with reference to FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b),a resin material sheet is wound round the rubber tube 22 and the guidemembers 12' to thereby form a resin material sheet layer 46. And aprepreg is further wound round the resin material sheet layer 46 tothereby form a wound prepreg layer 48 (FIG. 5(b)). The resin materialsheet layer 46 is not essential but it is preferable to insert the resinmaterial sheet layer 46 because the existence of the layer 46facilitates the unification of the fishing line guide members 12' andwound prepreg layer 48.

An outer shell 50 consisting of an upper mold 50A and a lower mold 50Bis set over the wound prepreg layer 48, and an internal pressure (an oilpressure, water pressure, air pressure or the like) is applied into therubber tube 22 from the end portion 22M of the rubber tube 22 (FIG.5(c)). In this manner, the outer peripheral surface of the wound prepreglayer 48 is pressed against the inner surface 50S of the outer shell 50.Therefore, the outside shape of the wound prepreg layer 48 is restrictedregardless of the internal pressure and is thus prevented fromprojecting outwardly.

Also, because the internal pressure is a hydraulic pressure, it appliesa uniform pressure onto the inner surface of the rubber tube 22 so thatthe fishing line guide members 12' can be pressed against the innersurface of the wound prepreg layer 48 through the resin material sheetlayer 46 with a suitable pressure. This prevents the inner surfaceportion of the prepreg layer 48 from being curved greatly in anoutwardly projecting manner.

In this state, these components are heated to thereby unite the fishingline guide members 12' with the inner surface of the wound prepreg layer48. After then, they are cooled and the pressure thereof is lowered, andthe mandrel 20 and rubber tube 22 are taken off therefrom. If a siliconetube is used instead of a rubber tube as the soft elastic member 22,then the durability thereof can be enhanced. Also, as the fishing lineguide members 12', similar members as in the first and secondmanufacturing methods can be used.

In the above-mentioned method, the existence of the soft receive memberlayer 22 or soft elastic member tube 22 acts also as a member whichprevents the resin from flowing into the fishing line guide members andmandrel 20. Next, description will be given below of a fourth method ofmanufacturing a fishing rod with pre-inserted fishing line guide membersin which no soft member is interposed between the mandrel and fishingline guide members but simply resin inflow prevent members areinterposed between the mandrel and each of the front and rear portionsof the fishing line guide members.

FIG. 6 shows a midway step in the fourth method. At first, there iscoated on the surface of a mandrel 20 a surface lubricant which canenhance the separation of the mandrel 20 from a baked rod pipe. Afterthen, a plurality of fishing line guide members 12" are inserted fromthe leading end portion of the mandrel 20 into the respective stoppositions thereof according to their respective inside diameters. Asshown in FIG. 7 which is an enlarged section view of one of the fishingline guide members 12", the guide member 12" has a circular innerperipheral shape and a flat outer peripheral shape. In FIG. 6, afterthree fishing line guide members 12" differing slightly in the insidediameters thereof are inserted to their respective stop positions, theabove-mentioned surface lubricant or the like is loaded into clearancesrespectively formed between the mandrel 20 and the front and rearportions of the fishing line guide members 12". The loaded surfacelubricant is designated by 54. As the resin entrance prevent material,besides the surface lubricant, there can be used a wax material, asealing agent such as silicone and the like.

After then, a wound prepreg layer 48 is formed on the above members. Asdescribed before, the wound prepreg layer 48 may be composed of an innerlayer 48A, a middle layer 48B and an outer layer 48C. The inner andouter layers 48A and 48C are respectively formed mainly of reinforcingfibers arranged together in the circumferential direction, while themiddle layer 48B is formed mainly of reinforcing fibers arrangedtogether in the longitudinal direction. The thus wound prepreg layer 48,as shown in FIG. 7, is bulged out outwardly to some extent at thepositions thereof where the fishing line guide members 12" are present.However, if such an outer shell as shown in FIG. 5(c) is used whenpressurized, then such bulge can be prevented.

When the pressure is given by use of the fastening tape, such bulge isleft. However, the reason why the section shape of the fishing lineguide member 12" is set not circular but the outer peripheral side shapeis set flat is to minimize the bulge. That is, the degree of the bulgeis smaller when compared with a fishing line guide member which has sucha circular section as shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b). For this reason, inthe second method described by use of FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) as well, ifthe fishing line guide member 12' having such flat shape, then thequantity of the bulge can be further reduced.

Also, if the fishing line guide member 12" has such a crescent-shapedsection as shown in FIG. 7, then the existence of the front and rear endportions in the section thereof enables the fishing line guide member12" to bite the inner surface of the baked rod pipe integrally, therebybeing able to increase the connection strength of the fishing line guidemember 12" with the rod pipe.

After the rod pipe is formed in this manner, the mandrel 20 is removedtherefrom and, after then, the surface lubricant 54 is dissolved by asolvent and is thus removed, with the result that, between the front andrear portions of the fishing line guide members 12" and the innersurface of the rod pipe, there are produced spaces to thereby allow theguide members 12" to be stably exposed in their respective front andrear portions. Also, since the fishing line guide members 12" extendedalong the outer surface of the mandrel 20, the innermost peripheralportions of the fishing line guide members 12" are present in theextension of the rod piper inner surface except for the neighborhood ofthe fishing line guide members 12"; that is, the innermost peripheralportions of the guide members 12" are almost flush with the extension ofthe rod pipe inner surface. In this case as well, since the front andrear portions of the fishing line guide members 12" are stably exposed,the fishing line can be guided smoothly without being damaged.

Also, even when the surface lubricant is dissolved by the solvent, it isturned into powder when the rod pipe is baked and, therefore, thesurface lubricant is caused to drop in part when the mandrel 20 isremoved and the remaining portions thereof drop gradually as the fishingrod is used, that is, they are removed naturally. Such removal fallswithin the scope of removal of the resin entrance prevent materialaccording to the invention. In other words, the resin entrance preventmaterial can be turned into powder by heating, can be dissolved by thesolvent, or can be removed by rubbing it mechanically.

Next, in FIG. 8, there is shown still another embodiment in which theinnermost peripheral portion of the fishing line guide member 12",unlike the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, is projected with respect to theinner surface of the rod pipe and also, in the front and rear portionsof the fishing line guide member, the inner surface of the rod pipeshows reduced unevenness. And, in order to prevent the fishing lineguide members 12" from being bulged outwardly, a surface lubricant isthickly coated in a layer not only onto the front and rear portions ofthe respective fishing line guide members 12" but also on the surface ofthe mandrel between the respective fishing line guide members.

A prepreg is then wound round the thus prepared rod pipe and the rodpipe with the prepreg wound thereround is pressurized and baked. Afterthen, if the mandrel 20 is removed and the surface lubricant in the rodpipe inner surface is cleaned out, then there can be supplied a fishingrod which includes the fishing line guide members 12" projected inwardlyfrom the inner surface of the rod pipe.

Now, in FIG. 9, there is shown a further embodiment in which a fasteningtape (a polypropylene tape) is used in place of the surface lubricantdiscussed with reference to FIG. 8. At first, a surface lubricant iscoated on the mandrel 20 similarly to a normal case. Next, a givenfishing line guide member 12" is put on the mandrel 20 and, in thisstate, a fastening tape 56 is wound round the mandrel 20. After then,the area Z1 of the fastening tape 56 in the neighborhood of the frontand rear portions of the fishing line guide member 12" is provisionallyfixed by an adhesive member such as a cellophane tape or the like and,next, the fastening tape 56 and the like on the upper portion Z2 of thefishing line guide member 12" are cut and removed by a knife or thelike. Due to this, the areas between the front and rear portions of thefishing line guide member 12" and the mandrel 20 are covered with theremaining portions of the fastening tape, which makes it possible toprevent the resin from flowing into such areas when the rod pipe ispressurized and baked.

In this manner, the outer peripheral surface of the fishing line guidemember 12" is exposed, the exposed surface of the guide member 12" ismasked, and a surface lubricant is coated on the fastening tape 56.Then, the masking member is removed and a prepreg is wound. Theresultant assembly is baked while it is pressurized by the fasteningtape or the outer shell. After then, the mandrel 10 is removed andfurther the fastening tape 56 is removed from the inner periphery of therod pipe. Thanks to this, the fishing line guide member 12" is allowedto project inwardly from the rod pipe inner surface and thus to guidethe fishing line smoothly.

In this case, if only the portion of the fastening tape 56 correspondingto the area Z1 is left and the remaining portions thereof are removed,then similarly to the previous embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, theinnermost peripheral portion of the fishing line guide member 12" isflush with the inner surface of the rod pipe except for the neighborhoodof the fishing line guide member 12", whereas only the front and rearportions of the fishing line guide member are exposed from the innersurface of the rod pipe. In this case as well, similarly to theabove-mentioned embodiments, the fishing line can be guided smoothly.Alternatively, instead of the fastening tape 56, tubes each formed by amold having a shape corresponding to a clearance between the front andrear portions of the fishing line guide member 12" and the mandrel 20may be disposed in the front and rear portions of the fishing line guidemember to thereby prevent the resin from flowing thereinto.

In the above embodiment, the fishing line guide member 12" is describedas a separate ring member. However, alternatively, a long wire-shapedmember may be wound spirally round the mandrel 20 and a surfacelubricant, wax or the like may be loaded between the mandrel 20 and eachof the front and rear portions of the spirally wound member. Also,similarly to the second method, if a resin material sheet is used, thenthe fishing line guide member can be united with the wound prepreg 48easily.

FIG. 10 shows a rod pipe 10 according to a still further embodiment ofthe present invention. The rod pipe 10 is manufactured with the methoddescribed with reference to FIG. 8. The fishing line guide member 12aused in this embodiment has a concave groove 12g formed in a outerperiphery thereof to present a substantially crescent section. Theconcave groove 12g may be in the form of annulus circumscribing theentire outer periphery of the fishing line guide member 12a so that thefishing line guide member 12a has the substantially crescent shape atany section or alternatively, be partially formed in the outer peripheryof the fishing line guide member 12a. The surface of the concave groove12g may be processed to have a certain roughness so as to improveadhesion to the resin of the prepreg layer 48, but this is notessential. In this embodiment, the prepreg layer 48, under pressureduring the manufacturing process, is projected radially inwardly andfilled into a recess of the concave groove 12g, whereby after theprepreg layer 48 is hardened in this state the fishing line guide member12a can be surely fixed to the prepreg layer 48.

As can be understood clearly from the foregoing description, accordingto the invention, due to the fact that a resin entrance prevent memberis interposed between the front and rear portions of a fishing lineguide member and a mandrel and after then a prepreg is wound round theabove members before they are baked, the fishing line guide member canbe formed integrally with the prepreg but is not buried under the resinof the prepreg. And, since the resin entrance prevent member is removedfrom the rod pipe after the rod pipe is baked, there are produced spacesin the front and rear portions of the fishing line guide member so thatthe fishing line guide member can be stably exposed from the innersurface of the baked rod pipe without being surrounded by burrs or thelike. Therefore, the fishing line can be guided smoothly without beingdamaged and thus the insertion resistance of a fishing line can bedecreased.

Further, according to the invention, since a fishing line guide memberis mounted on a mandrel through a receive material layer formed ofeither a soft elastic material or a clay-like material, part of thetransverse section of the fishing line guide member is buried under thereceive material layer and, if a prepreg is wound round the abovemembers to form a wound prepreg layer and the above members are bakedintegrally, then the integration thereof can be assured. At the sametime, the buried portion of the fishing line guide member is left and isprojected inwardly from the inner surface of the rod pipe and theexistence of the soft receive material layer prevents the fishing lineguide member from applying an unreasonable pressure to the wound prepreglayer, which prevents the rod pipe from being projected outwardly. Thatis, the reinforcing fiber of the prepreg is hardly caused to meander.Therefore, there can be formed a fishing rod of high strength and highquality. In more particular, the invention is able to supply a fishingrod with a pre-inserted fishing line guide member which can guide thefishing line smoothly without damaging it and can reduce the insertionresistance of the fishing line and also which is of high strength andhigh quality.

Furthermore, according to the invention, a fishing line guide member ismounted on the outside of a soft elastic material tube while part of thetransverse section of the guide member is buried under the tube outsideportion and a suitable pressure is applied to the fishing line guidemember by means of a uniform pressure acting on the inner surface of thesoft elastic material tube. Due to this, if the above members are bakedintegrally, the integration of these members can be assured and, at thesame time, the buried portion of the fishing line guide member is leftand projected inwardly from the inner surface of the thus formed rodpipe. Also, the existence of an outer shell prevents a wound prepreglayer from projecting outwardly. Thanks to this, the reinforcing fiberof the prepreg is prevented from meandering and thus the formed rod pipehas a high strength and is also improved in quality. Therefore, thethird invention is able to supply a fishing rod with a pre-insertedfishing line guide member which can guide a fishing line smoothlywithout damaging it and also can reduce the insertion resistance of thefishing line and also which has a high strength and a high quality. Now,description will be given below in more detail of the preferredembodiments of a fishing rod with an inserted fishline according to theinvention illustrated by FIGS. 11-16.

FIG. 11 shows a first preferred embodiment of a fishing rod with aninserted fishline according to the invention. In this embodiment, thereis employed a rod pipe 10 formed by winding and firing fiber reinforcedprepreg (this term is used in a wide sense including thermoplasticresin) which can be formed of high-strength fiber such as carbon fiberor the like impregnated with thermosetting resin such as epoxy resin orthe like or mixed with thermoplastic resin such as polyamide or thelike, and an annular fishline guide 12 formed of ceramics or the like isdisposed in the inner periphery of the rod pipe 10.

The fishline guide 12 has a width dimension larger than the thicknessdimension thereof and also has a cross section which is wide, flat andsmall in curvature and, therefore, as shown in FIG. 14 (which will bediscussed later), even if the fishline guide 12 is disposed directly onthe inner surface of the rod pipe 10 as a united body withoutinterposing a buffer layer 14 (to be described later) or a reinforcinglayer between them, the rod pipe 10 can be gently bulged out when it isformed. The outer peripheral side of the fishline guide 12 is unitedwith the inner peripheral surface 10S of the rod pipe 10 in an embeddedmanner. However, in the present embodiment, the buffer layer 14 isinterposed between the inner peripheral surface 10S of the rod pipe 10and the fishline guide 12. The outer peripheral side of the fishlineguide 12 is embedded in the inner peripheral surface 10S of the rod pipe10 with the buffer layer 14 interposed between them, while the innerperipheral surface 12S side of the fishline guide 12 projects inwardlyfrom the inner peripheral surface 10S of the rod pipe 10. The projectingheight (h) of the fishline guide 12 may be set in the range ofapproximately 0.3 mm-1 mm to thereby prevent a fishline from contactingthe inner surface of the rod pipe 10. And, even if the fishline guide 12is integrally fixed to a rod pipe having a small diameter, theprojecting height (h) of the fishline guide 12 may be set forapproximately 1/3 of the inside diameter (d) of the small diameter rodpipe or less to thereby secure a fishline insertion space and thusprevent the insertion resistance of the fishline from increasing.

As described above, since the fishline guide 12 is integrally fixed tothe inner peripheral surface 10S of the rod pipe 10 in an embeddedmanner when it is heated and fired, the portion 10B of the rod pipe 10to which the fishline guide 12 is fixed is bulged out outwardly.However, because the cross section of the fishline guide 12 is wide andflat, the bulged portion 10B can be bulged out widely and smoothly withrespect to the remaining flat main body 10A.

As a result of this arrangement, the fibers of the bulged portion 10B donot meander so much to thereby be able to maintain the strength of therod pipe 10. In addition, since the wide and flat inner peripheralsurface 12S of the fishline guide 12 projects inwardly, there can beprovided a fishing rod with an inserted fishline which has improvedstrength and also can guide a fishline smoothly. Preferably, thethickness of the bulged portion 10B may be set slightly larger than thatof the main body 10A to surely prevent the strength of the rod pipe 10from decreasing. Also, because the inner peripheral surface 12S of thefishline guide 12 is wide and flat, even when compared with a fishlineguide which has a small circular section, the fishline can be guidedsmoothly without being damaged.

The fishline guide 12 can also be formed of other material than theabove-mentioned ceramics; for example, it can also be formed of metal,or fiber-reinforced material including resin as the base materialthereof, or fiber-reinforced material including metal as the basematerial thereof. Also, the buffer layer 14 may be formed of rubberhaving an elastic constant lower (softer) than that of the rod pipe 10,or may be formed of tape (or sheet) of fiber-reinforced prepreg,synthetic resin, resin or other similar material having a low elasticityof 25000 kgf/mm2 or less. Due to existence of the buffer layer 14, thebulged portion 10B can be bulged out more smoothly and also there can berelaxed the concentration of the stress in the neighborhood of thefishline guide 12 when the fishing rod is flexed and deformed. Further,the existence of the buffer layer 14 can ease the transmission of shocksto the fishline guide 12 when the shocks are produced when the fishingrod drops down or in similar accidents. Alternatively, instead of thebuffer layer 14, the same kind of prepreg as the rod pipe main body orother kind of prepreg may be used to provide a reinforcing layer, andthe thickness of the bulged portion 10B may be set rather large, therebypreventing the strength of the rod pipe from decreasing. The maindirection of the reinforcing fibers of the reinforcing layer may be thecircumferential direction. Also, the reinforcing layer may also beformed of woven cloth.

Next, description will be given below of a method of manufacturing thefishing rod with an inserted fishline shown in FIG. 11. As shown in FIG.15, on a mandrel 20, there is put a receiving member layer 22 which iscomposed of an elastic member such as a silicone tube or the like, or aclay-like member, a mold releasing agent is coated onto the outside ofthe receive member layer 22, and the annular fishline guide 12 havingsuch an inside diameter dimension as can tighten the receive memberlayer 22 to a certain degree is placed over the mode releasing agent.

Next, the resin tape for the buffer layer 14 or the prepreg for thereinforcing layer is wound around the above layered body in such amanner that it can cover the upper portions of the respective fishlineguides 12, and the fiber-reinforced prepreg is wound around the thuslayered body. The outer periphery of this body is fastened tightly by afastening tape or the like. Next, the thus layered body is heated andfired to unite the rod pipe 10 and the respective annular fishlineguides together into an integral body. After the integral body iscooled, the fastening tape and mandrel 20 are removed from the integralbody and the receive member layer 22 is finally removed therefrom.

As described above, since the receiving member layer 22 exists when thefishline guides 12 are formed, the inner peripheral sides of therespective annular fishline guides 12 that are embedded in the receivemember layer project inwardly from the inner peripheral surface 10S ofthe rod pipe. Also, the existence of the receiving member layer 22prevents the portion of the rod pipe where the respective fishline guide12 are fixed from being pushed up with an unreasonable force. Further,in the present embodiment, since the fishline guide has a wide and flatcross section and the buffer layer 14 exists, the portion of the bufferlayer 14 where the buffer layer 14 exists is bulged outwardly andsmoothly, with the result that the fibers of the rod pipe meander onlygradually to thereby be able to keep the strength of the rod pipe.

Now, FIG. 12 shows a second preferred embodiment of a fishing rod withan inserted fishline according to the invention. In FIG. 12, there isshown a rod pipe in which a rod pipe 10C having a gentle taper isjointed to a rod pipe 10D having a taper steeper than the taper of therod pipe 10C. In the jointed portion of the rod pipe, a wide and flatfishline guide 12' is fixedly secured through a buffer layer 14' to theinner peripheral surface 10S of the rod pipe. The inner peripheralsurface 12S of the fishline guide 12' projects beyond the extendedsurfaces of the inner peripheral surfaces of the two rod pipes 10C and10D. This prevents a fishline 16 from touching the inner peripheralsurface 10S of the rod pipe 10 including the jointed portion when thefishline 16 is stretched strongly, thereby reducing the damage or wearof the inner surface of the rod pipe. Also, the materials of thefishline guide 12' and buffer layer 14' as well as the method ofmanufacturing this fishing rod are similar to the fishing rod shown inFIG. 11.

Now, FIG. 13 shows a third preferred embodiment of a fishing rod with aninserted fishline according to the invention. In this embodiment, thereis employed a fishline guide 13 which is formed continuous in a spiralmanner and the cross section of this fishline guide 13 is a circlehaving a large curvature. The fishline guide 13 is formed of similarmaterial to the fishline guide 12 shown in FIG. 11, and a layer 15 isinterposed between the fishline guide 13 and the rod pipe 10. This layer15, which is formed of similar material to the buffer layer 14 andreinforcing layer shown in FIG. 11, receives and relaxes the biting ofthe fishline guide having a large curvature to make gentle the bulgingcondition of the bulged portion 10B of the rod pipe 10 to therebyprevent the fibers of the rod pipe from meandering, which improves thestrength of the rod pipe and serves as an reinforcement against thecentralized stress occurring in the neighborhood of the fishing guideswhen the fishing rod is flexed. When the fishing rod is dropped down,the bulged portion 10B is abutted against an object to receive shocksfrom the object. However, in the present embodiment, the shocks can bereceived by the thick portion of the bulged portion 10B that is improvedin strength and can also be eased by the buffering action of the bufferlayer, thereby being able to enhance the durability of the rod pipe 10.Even if the rod pipe 10 itself is formed thinner than the reinforcinglayer, a necessary strength is given by the reinforcing layer portionand thus the fishing rod is light in weight and with improved strengthas a whole. Also, the inside diameter of the rod pipe can be set large,which can contribute to the reduction of the fishline insertionresistance.

The pitch of the spiral of the fishline guide is set on the order of10-150 mm, preferably, on the order of 20-100 mm. Also, when a reel tobe used is a spinning reel, a fishline wound around a spool is playedout while it circles. Therefore, in this case, if the direction of thespiral is set opposite to the circling direction of the fishline, thenthe fishline can be effectively prevented from touching the innersurface of the rod pipe.

Now, FIG. 14 shows a fourth embodiment of a fishing rod with an insertedfishline according to the invention. A fishline guide employed in thisembodiment is a spirally continuous fishline guide 11, while thefishline guide 11 has a cross section which, similarly to the fishlineguide shown in FIG. 11, is wide, flat and small in curvature. Therefore,unlike the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, even without interposing thelayer 15, the bulged portion 10B of the rod pipe 10 is bulged outgently. This prevents the fibers of the rod pipe 10 from meanderingheavily when the rod pipe 10 is formed, which in turn prevents thelowering of the strength of the rod pipe 10. However, according to thepresent embodiment, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, a bufferlayer or a reinforcing layer can also be interposed between the rod pipe10 and the fishline guide 11 to thereby allow the bulged portion 10B tobe bulged further gently or to be reinforced. Similarly to theabove-mentioned embodiments, the fishline guide 11 may be formed ofceramics and, alternatively, it may be formed of other material. Forexample, the fishline guide 11 may be formed of fiber reinforced prepregincluding fiber or resin of the same property as the rod pipe 10, sothat the fishline guide 11 can also contribute to the reinforcement ofthe bulged portion 10B of the rod pipe 10, that is, the fishline guide11 can reinforce the lowered strength of the rod pipe 10 due to theslight meandering of the fibers caused by the bulging of the bulgedportion; and, while the shocks produced when the fishing rod is droppeddown are to be received by the bulged portion 10B of the rod pipe 10,the fishline guide 11 can also serve as a reinforcement for the bulgedportion 10B against such shocks. In the fourth embodiment as well,similarly to the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, the rod pipe 10 itself maybe formed thin.

In both of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the amount ofprojection of the fishline guide into the interior of the rod pipe issimilar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 11. Especially, when thefishline guide is applied to a rod pipe having a large flexibility suchas a top rod or the like, it is necessary that the inside diameter ofthe rod pipe is set large while maintaining the flexibility of the rodpipe, before the fishline guide is provided in the interior of the rodpipe. Here, even if the inside diameter of the rod pipe is set large andthe reinforcing fibers in the peripheral direction (strictly, includingdirections respectively inclined at an angle of about 45 degrees withrespect to the peripheral direction) of the rod pipe are provided with athickness of 1/3 or more of the thickness of the rod pipe to therebyenhance the crushing strength of the rod pipe, the reinforcing fibers inthe vertical direction of the rod pipe are not increased by this, whichprevents the flexibility of the rod pipe from being worsened. In thismanner, if the inside diameter of the rod pipe is set large, then theintegral provision of the fishing guide according to the invention canbe made easy. However, normally, it is preferred that the fishline guideaccording to the invention may be applied to a rod pipe having a largeinside diameter such as a second rod pipe and the like.

In any one of the embodiments respectively shown in FIGS. 11 to 14, thefishline guide can perform a reinforcing action against the crushing ofthe rod pipe 10 but has little effect on the flexibility of the rod pipe10, so that a fishing rod can be designed in the same manner as in theprior art. Also, due to existence of the bulged portion, the existingposition of the fishline guide can be recognized from outside, thebulged portion, which has a great crushing strength, can be held by handso that a user can rely on it more firmly. Further, since the existenceof the bulged portion allows the user to confirm the arrangement of thefishline guides, when the interior of the rod pipe is cared for, theuser can easily find a proper cleaning manner.

With regard to the fishline guide, two kinds of embodiments have beendescribed separately, that is, when it is an individual annular ringshown in FIGS. 11 and 12, and, when it is a spirally continuous fishlineguide as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. However, there is no other differencebetween the two kinds of embodiments than the description that has beengiven, while the description of one of the two kinds of embodiments canalso apply to the other embodiment. When a fishing rod with a spiralfishline guide is manufactured in FIG. 11, the manufacturing method maybe similar to the method that has been described with reference to FIG.15. Alternatively, there can also be employed another method, amanufacturing process of which is shown in FIG. 16.

FIG. 16 shows a process of a method in which a fishline guide is formedintegrally with a rod pipe to thereby a fishing rod with an insertedfishline according to the invention. A groove SP is previously formed inthe width-direction central portion of a thick and belt-wise longwinding member 22' which is formed of an elastic member such as asilicone member forming a receive member layer. The winding member 22'is closely wound around a mandrel 20 so that no clearance can beproduced between the surface of the mandrel 20 and the winding member22' which otherwise could occur if the side edges of the mandrel 20 andwinding member 22' are abutted against each other. The section of thegroove SP is formed in a smoothly curved line. A mold releasing agent isapplied onto the winding member 22', a spiral fishline guide is disposedso as to extend along the groove SP, a member forming a buffer layer ora reinforcing layer is placed on the thus prepared winding member 22',and, after then, fiber reinforced prepreg is wound around them.Alternatively, the fiber reinforced prepreg may be wound directly withno such member forming a buffer layer or a reinforcing layer interposedbetween them. After then, the fishing rod can be produced according to anormal manufacturing process. In this case, when, as a reinforcementagainst the crushing of the rod pipe 10, a layer having fibers directedin oblique directions is formed mainly in the inner-most or outer-mostlayer of the rod pipe 10, preferably, the fiber reinforced prepreg maybe wound in such a manner that the fibers of the reinforcement layer aredirected in the opposite direction to the spiral fishline guide or inboth directions.

According to this manufacturing method, the fishline guide is able toproject sufficiently into the interior space of the rod pipe accordingto the depth dimension of the groove SP and the amount of bulging of theouter periphery of the rod pipe can be adjusted. Especially, for afishline guide having a large curvature as shown in FIG. 13, if anelastic member including such groove SP is used to form a receive memberlayer, the amount of bulging of the rod pipe can be adjusted easily.Also, since the groove SP has a smoothly curved section, even if theresin that flows when the fishing rod is formed by heating flows intothe periphery of the fishline guide, the leading end portion of thefishline guide is prevented from providing a burred shape with sharpcorners, so that a fishline can be inserted smoothly.

The winding member 22' can be removed after the mandrel 20 is taken out.In the present embodiment, the groove SP is not formed in the portion ofthe winding member 22' that exists in the front portion of the mandrel20. This is because the front portion of the rod pipe is the jointingportion and thus no fishline guide is formed in this portion.

The depth of the groove SP is preferably of the order of 0.3 mm or more,while the width of the groove SP can be selected arbitrarily accordingto the width, inclination angle and the like of the fishline guide.Also, the thickness of the winding member 22' is preferably of 0.5 mm ormore. Further, in order to eliminate the possibility that, when thewinding member 22' is wound around the mandrel 20, any clearance can beproduced between the side edges of the winding member 22' and themandrel 20 and the resin can be thereby burred, a thin soft sheet may beused to cover the upper surface of the winding member 22'. Now, themanufacturing method including a groove shown in FIG. 15 can also beused in manufacturing a fishing rod shown in FIG. 11.

The term, which is used in the foregoing disclosure that the curvatureis large or small, relates to the shape of the side of the fishlineguide that faces the inner peripheral surface of the rod pipe (that is,the side of the fishline guide that is embedded in the rod pipe), notthe shape of the opposite side thereof (that is, the side of thefishline guide that projects into the interior space of the rod pipe).Therefore, for example, in a fishline guide having a section which isalmost semicircular, when the curvature is small, the surface of thefishline guide on the side where the circle is cut is embedded into theinner surface of the rod pipe and, on the other hand, when the curvatureis large, the semi-circular side of the fishline guide is embedded.

The above-mentioned bulged portion of the rod pipe means the outerperipheral state of the rod pipe main body layer and thus it also fallswithin the scope of the invention that paint is applied onto the bulgedportion to thereby make the bulged portion unseen. Also, if there isminimized the amount of embedding of the fishline guide to be embeddedinto the surface of the rod pipe, then the rod pipe can also bestructured such that the outer periphery of the rod pipe is not bulgedout. Especially, as shown in FIG. 16, use of the elastic memberincluding the groove SP facilitates the manufacture of a fishing rodincluding a rod pipe which is not bulged out.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of manufacturing a fishing rod with apre-inserted fishing line guide member, said method comprising the stepsof:mounting on a mandrel a fishing line guide member; applying a resinentrance preventive material on the mandrel adjacent said fishing lineguide; winding a prepreg onto said fishing line guide member around saidmandrel to form an assembly whereby said resin entrance preventivematerial maintains a height differential between said fishing line guidemember and said prepreg; pressurizing and heating to cure said assembly;removing said mandrel from said assembly; and removing said resinentrance preventive member from said assembly after said mandrel isremoved therefrom.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein saidapplying step includes applying said resin entrance preventive materialon substantially entire outer periphery of said mandrel except a portionwhere said mandrel is in contact with said fishing line guide member. 3.A method of manufacturing a fishing rod with a pre-inserted fishing lineguide member, said method comprising the steps of:mounting a fishingline guide member on a mandrel through a deformable member having anelasticity such that said guide member is pressed into said deformablemember when pressure is applied thereto; winding a prepreg round saidmandrel over said fishing line guide member to form an assembly;pressurizing, heating and baking to cure said assembly; and removingsaid mandrel and said deformable member from said assembly.
 4. Themethod according to claim 3, further comprising the step of removingsaid mandrel and said deformable member from said assembly thus baked.5. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the step ofdisposing inside an molding shell said assembly thus formed by saidwinding step.
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein saidpressurizing, heating and baking step includes the step of applying apressure into an inside of said deformable member so that said assemblyis tightly held between said deformable member and said molding shell.7. A method of manufacturing a fishing rod with a pre-inserted fishingline guide member, said method comprising the steps of:mounting afishing line guide member on an outer surface of an elasticallydeformable tube, said elastically deformable tube being elastic suchthat said guide member is pressed into said deformable tube whenpressure is applied thereto; winding a prepreg round said tube over saidfishing line guide member to form an assembly; placing a molding shellonto said assembly; and applying a pressure into said tube so that saidassembly is tightly held between said tube and said molding shell,whereby said fishing line guide is at least partially pressed into saidelastically deformable tube; and removing said deformable tube and saidshell from said assembly.
 8. A method of manufacturing a fishing rodwith a pre-inserted fishing line guide member, said method comprisingthe steps of:mounting on a mandrel a fishing line guide member; windinga prepreg onto said fishing line guide member around said mandrel toform an assembly; pressurizing and heating to cure said assembly; andremoving said mandrel from said assembly, wherein the step of mountingsaid fishing line guide member on said mandrel comprises winding areceiving member layer on said mandrel, and wherein said receivingmember layer comprises a groove which faces away from said mandrel. 9.The method according to claim 8, further comprising the step ofdisposing said fishing line guide member in said groove.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 9, wherein said fishline line guide member forms acontinuous spiral extending more than one revolution around saidmandrel.
 11. The method according to claim 9, further comprising thestep of forming a reinforcing layer on said receiving member layer andsaid fishing line guide member prior to winding said prepreg round saidmandrel.
 12. The method according to claim 1, wherein said resinentrance preventive member is disposed at discrete locations on oppositesides of said fishing line guide member.
 13. The method according toclaim 1, wherein said resin entrance preventive member is continuouslydisposed along said mandrel between adjacent fishing line guide members.14. The method according to claim 1, wherein said height differential isin the range of approximately 0.3 mm to 1 mm.
 15. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein said height differential is approximately 1/3 of aninside diameter of said assembly or less.
 16. The method according toclaim 1, wherein said resin entrance preventive material comprises afirst layer of tape wound on said mandrel in a manner to provide groovesaround the circumference of said mandrel, and a second layer of materialoverlying said first layer and said grooves.
 17. The method according toclaim 16, wherein said fishing line guide member are disposed on saidsecond layer at locations defined by said grooves.
 18. The methodaccording to claim 16, wherein said first layer is formed of arelatively deformable elastic material.
 19. The method according toclaim 16, wherein said first layer is formed of a relativelynon-deformable material.
 20. The method according to claim 16, whereinsaid second layer is formed of a relatively deformable elastic material.21. The method according to claim 16, wherein said second layer isformed of a relatively non-deformable material.
 22. The method accordingto claim 1, further comprising the step of applying a release coat onsaid mandrel prior to said step of applying said resin entrancepreventive material.
 23. The method of claim 3, wherein said step ofwinding said prepreg round said mandrel comprises winding said prepreground said mandrel over and in contact with said fishing line guidemember.